Christmas, New Year, Christmas...

I wonder whether anyone else senses the law of diminshing returns operating with particular efficiency around the festive season. Christmas has been getting progressively crapper since 1981, apart from a small blip in the graph in 1998, when Christmas was crapper than it has been before or since.

I mentioned this to Simon (who has kids) and he said "Well, Christmas, it's about the kids, isn't it?" Well, that's frankly unacceptable, if you ask me.

If there's one thing worse than Christmas when you're not a kid, it's New Year full stop. This year I didn't even bother staying up for it. I've done it all: linking hands with old friends and singing "Auld Lang Syne", or watching a firework display. I even remember drinking myself into a coma on Nana Plaza, allowing some small toerag to make off with my grandfather's watch (or did I give it to him?) It's all terrible, terrible...

Still, griping aside, I did get a chance to put my feet up for the first time in several months and got to see a few old friends.